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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA (v. 1 f.) Dhânyakaṭaka is the old name of the present Amarâvatî ;[1] the temple of Amarêśvara is the one in which the inscription is preserved ; and the Chaitya of Buddha is the famous Amarâvatî Stûpa, which at the time of the inscription must have been still in good preservation. In that city, the inscription continues, was a royal family which claimed descent from the feet of the Creator (v. 3 f.), i.e. which belonged to the Śûdra caste. Four generations are mentioned, viz. Bhîma I. (v. 6), Kêta I. (v. 24), Bhîma II. (v. 28) whose wife was Sabbamâdêvî (v. 32), and Kêta II. (v. 33). Nothing of historical importance is related of any of these princes in the 43 Sanskṛit verses with which the inscription opens. The first passage in Telugu (l. 108 ff.) gives a list of the birudas[2] of Kêta II. He was styled the Mahâmaṇḍalêśvara Kôṭa-Kêtarâja,─ in which the word Kôṭa, ‘ the fort,’ perhaps refers to the fort of Dharaṇikôṭa[3] near Amarâvatî,─ ‘ the lord of the district of six-thousand (villages) on the southern (bank) of the Kṛishṇaveṇṇâ river, obtained through the favour of the glorious Triṇayana-Pallava,’[4] and ‘ the lord of Śrî-Dhânyakaṭaka, the best of cities.’ Two further generations of the same family are known from the Yenamadala inscription of Gaṇapâmbâ,[5] which mentions Kêta (identical with Kêta II.), his son Rudra, and the latter’s son Bêta who became the husband of the Kâkatîya princess Gaṇapâmbâ.
The grants recorded in the inscription were all made on Thursday, the tenth tithi of the bright fortnight of Mâgha in Śaka-Saṁvat 1104.[6] The grants are five in number. The 1st, 2nd and 5th are specified both in Sanskṛit verse and Telugu prose, while the 3rd and 4th are only worded in Telugu :─ (1) Kêta II. granted to Buddha the village of Kranteru in the district of Kaṇḍravâḍi, and the villages of Mêḍukoṇḍûru and Ḍoṅkiparru in the district of Koṇḍapaḍumaṭi (v. 44 and ll. 121 to 124) ; (2) Kêta II. granted to Buddha 110 sheep, the milk of which had to be used for ghee to feed two perpetual lamps (v. 46 and the subsequent Telugu passage) ; (3) Gasavi-Sûramadêvi, one of the king’s concubines, gave to Buddha 55 sheep for a perpetual lamp (l. 141 ff.) ; (4) a similar gift was made by Prôlamadêvi, apparently another of the king’s favourites (l. 145 ff.) ; and (5) Kêta II. himself granted to Brâhmaṇas the following villages for the merit of his mother Sabbamadêvi,[7] of his father Bhîmarâja,[8] of his elder brother Chôḍerâja,[9] and for his own merit :─ Kôkallu (v. 48) in the district of Goṇḍanâtavâḍi (l. 173) ; Giñjipâḍu, Challagarâ and Tâḍivâya (v. 49) in the same district (l. 176) ; Ammalapûṇḍi (v. 50) in the same district (l. 179 f.) Kuṇṭimaddi and Uppalapâḍu (v. 51) in the same district (l. 182) ; Sattenapalli, Chintapalli (v. 51), Kêtepalli and Erraguṇṭa (l. 184 f.) in the district of Koṇḍapaḍumati (l. 183 f.) and Oṅkadona (v. 51) in the district of Doḍḍikaṇḍravâḍi (l. 185). The names of these village were changed, respectively, into Sabbâmbikâpuram (l. 174) after the name of his mother ; Bhîmâvuram (l. 177 f.) after that of his father ; Chôḍâvuram (l. 180 f.) after that of his elder brother ; and Jagamechchugaṇḍapuram (l. 185 f.) after one of his own surnames. _______________________________ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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